'Laughing' Mandela discharged from hospital

JOHANNESBURG: Doctors discharged Nelson Mandela from a hospital Friday where he was treated for a respiratory condition, as officials said the ex-South African president had been laughing and joking with visitors. "He has been discharged," said Vejaynand Ramlakan, one of the military doctors assigned to care for the icon of the anti-apartheid movement who is now aged 92. An ambulance was later seen arriving at Mandela's home in Houghton in Johannesburg after his family had made arrangements for him to return there. "To us he is stable, but will be subject to intense monitoring," Ramlaken added. Speaking at the same press conference at the Milpark hospital in Johannesburg, vice president Kgalema Motlanthe said Mandela was well and is receiving the best possible care. "Madiba is well," Motlanthe said, using Mandela's clan name, adding that the anti-apartheid hero was "in goo...